Fritz Fends Off Shelton for Halle Semifinals

By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, June 19, 2026
Photo credit: Terra Wortmann Open Facebook

In a match of miniscule margins, Taylor Fritz brought major sting to get over the line.

Fritz slashed 24 aces edging buddy Ben Shelton 6-7(5), 7-6(8), 7-6(3) in an all-American shootout to reach the Halle semifinals today.

Fritz fought off a match point serving at 6-7 in the second-set tiebreaker sparking a surge that saw him take the tiebreaker and level the match.

“I don’t know if I could have taken losing another one of those to Ben,” Fritz said. “When I say that, I mean just doing everything but winning the match, because the funny thing about this one is he had the chances.

“In the other two he won, I probably had the better chances. I kind of just had it in my head capitalizing on the big chances and I am happy to get through that.”

It was Fritz’s first win over Shelton since their maiden meeting at the 2023 Indian Wells. Fritz snapped Shelton’s six match winning streak scoring his second win in five meetings vs. the explosive left-hander.

The fifth-seeded Fritz advanced to his 42nd Tour-level semifinal and will face either top-seeded Roland Garros champion Alexander Zverev or Belgian Raphael Collignon for a spot in Sunday’s final.

Last Sunday, Shelton dethroned defending champion Fritz 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 on the Stuttgart grass to capture his third title of the season on his third different surface at the Boss Open.

Branding himself a champion for all surfaces, Shelton has now collected championships on grass, clay (Munich) and the hard court of Dallas where he defeated Fritz in a dramatic final shootout. Shelton is the first American man since Sam Querrey in 2010 to win titles on three different surfaces in the same season.

Playing pivotal points with ambition and accuracy today, Fritz rode a crackling serve to avenge his Stuttgart finals loss. It was Fritz’s first Top 10 win since he toppled Lorenzo Musetti at the ATP Finals in Turin last November.

Fritz served 78 percent, pumped 24 aces against 1 double fault, won 80 percent of his first-serve points and denied all four break points he faced in a two hour, 45-minute triumph. It was the longest match of the tournament so far.

Both Top 10-ranked Americans were trying to dictate rallies with the serve and first-strike forehands. Shelton joins world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who has won five titles in 2026, as the second man to claim three or more championships this year.

Shelton worked the drop shot-lob combination to hold and force the final-set tiebreaker.

In a statement start, Fritz fired an ace. Two points later, Shelton smacked a 130 mph serve that was so fast it struck the ball kid in the chest. The ball kid shrugged off the body blow like a champ, showing no sign of duress as Shelton edged ahead 2-1.

Deadlocked at 3-all, Fritz repeatedly attacked Shelton’s weaker backhand wing and reaped the rewards. Shelton netted a backhand to cede the mini break then Fritz attacked net forcing an off balance and off target backhand pass for 5-3. Shelton netted another two-hander as Fritz earned triple match point.

When Shelton’s final forehand found the net, Fritz was through in two hours, 45 minutes. Fritz, who owns a 5-1 career record in grass-court finals with his lone loss coming last Sunday, improved to 29-5 on grass since the start of 2024.